Midnight's Kiss
by wildmushrooms
Summary: It was love at first sight when Ray eyed Linda from across the room one cold New Years Eve – but an unfortunate mix up with Janine Melnitz could mean he'll lose Linda forever. Now it's up to the Ghostbusters to help Ray set things straight and win Linda's heart once and for all. Midnight's Kiss is a sequel to 'Ghostbusters – A Love Story.'
1. Prologue

**PROLOGUE**

New Years Eve, 2013

It was a cool but clear December night in New York City.  
Linda clutched the boy's arm as he walked her along the deck of the boat that bobbed rhythmically on the inky black waters of the Hudson River.  
The boy walked her to the bow, kissed her cheek and let go of her arm before walking back to a small group who were watching on.  
Linda looked up to see Liberty Island in the distance, Lady Liberty in all her green glowing glory looked down upon her, as if blessing her.  
Linda couldn't help but smile, knowing how much the statue meant to Ray.

Ray…

Linda's eyes moved down from the statue to Ray, who was waiting at the very tip of the bow, a wide grin on his face.  
She smiled back at him, not quite believing that this moment was finally playing out.  
Ray took Linda's hands and squeezed them tightly.  
"I finally caught you," he said softly as he gazed into her eyes.


	2. Happy New Year

**PART ONE**

New Years Eve, 1990

It was almost midnight.  
Ray stood alone at the bar, his back to the bustling crowd as he sipped another beer.  
How many had he drunk that night?  
He couldn't remember. He was just trying to pass the time.  
Ray would rather have been at the Firehouse tonight, especially considering how bitter cold it was, but Egon and Audrey were babysitting Oscar and he hadn't felt like sticking around to help.  
He necked the last of his beer and placed the empty bottle on the bar.  
Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he turned around and lazily scanned across the crowded room.  
His eyes suddenly fell upon another set of eyes from across the room.

They were the colour of toffee, Ray noticed, before creases formed in the corners as the owner of the eyes began to smile shyly in Ray's direction.  
Ray smiled back.  
_She's beautiful,_ he thought, taking her in.  
The woman had dark hair cut into a wavy bob, the ends flicking inwards around her ears.  
She was wearing a simple black dress and heels, a delicate gold chain around her neck.  
An outfit that perfectly suited the hourglass curves of her body.  
In her hand she clutched a glass of half drunk red wine, a smudge of dark red lipstick caressed the rim.  
She began to take a sip from her glass as a nervous reaction to Ray's obvious stare in her direction.  
Ray, realising he was probably looking like a stunned fool, pulled himself together and headed over to the woman.  
As he pushed his way past the other patrons, he thanked himself for the healthy dose of liquid courage.

"Hi" he offered enthusiastically as he stood next to her.  
She looked into his eyes and offered a quiet hello in return.  
Standing next to her, Ray noticed the beauty spot next to her left eye.  
He felt his heart skip a beat as he admired how pretty she was up close.  
"I'm Ray," he offered with a lopsided smile and a crease of his forehead.  
"Linda" she replied.  
Are you here by yourself?" he asked her, scrambling to find a way to keep her attention.  
"Uh huh," she replied before taking another sip of wine.  
A silence fell upon them as Ray tried to think of something to say that wasn't a borrowed pick up line of Peter's.  
"I'm sorry. Please excuse me for not saying much. I think I've had too much to drink," she said suddenly, breaking the silence.  
She grinned at him, revealing a smear of dark lipstick across her front teeth.  
"Oh, you've got a little…" started Ray, as he signalled to Linda by holding up a finger to his own mouth.  
"Oh gosh, how embarrassing" replied Linda, turning herself away from Ray and holding a hand over her teeth, trying to quickly rub away the lipstick.  
When she turned back to him, Linda's full cheeks were a bright shade of pink.  
"Well, I think I've embarrassed myself enough tonight. I've really gotta be going" she said, looking in the direction of the exit.  
"No! Don't go!" said Ray, rather loudly.  
"I mean, uh, how about we go get some coffee? I've had a little too much to drink too," he said, offering Linda the same lopsided smile again.  
She smiled back (without baring her teeth) and agreed.  
There was something warm and genuine about Ray and she knew she couldn't really head home before midnight on New Years Eve anyway.

With scarves and mittens and coats clutched tightly, Ray and Linda walked along the icy street until they came to a quiet looking, but brightly lit, corner diner.  
Ray held the door open for Linda before following her inside.  
He was struck by a wave of thick warm air as he entered, making him feel just a hint of drowsiness.  
A strong coffee was just what he needed.  
Ray followed Linda into a cosy window booth and couldn't help but chuckle when her backside rubbed against the upholstery making a rather unfortunate sound as she sat down.  
"Tonight really isn't my night" said Linda, holding a hand over her eyes in embarrassment.  
Ray couldn't help but like her even more.

They ordered coffee and held the cups in their hands, thankful for the warmth on their fingertips while they exchanged pleasantries and flirted playfully.  
"So what do you do for work?" asked Linda with a tilt of her head.  
The flashing lights from the diner's outdoor sign glowed on and off across her face.  
"I'm self employed," replied Ray, hesitant to give precise details in case Linda was one of those people who scoffed at talk of the paranormal.  
"Like…. a Ghostbuster?" she replied with a raise of her eyebrow and a cheeky grin.  
"Yeah, how did you...?" began Ray, confused.  
"Well, you're kind of a big deal in this town, Ray. It's hard not to recognise you when you and your friend's faces are available to buy on T-shirts across Chinatown" replied Linda with a giggle.  
Ray still found it bizarre how popular the Ghostbusters had become since defeating Vigo.  
It was as if overnight the whole city were finally on their side.  
He couldn't believe that it had been a year ago tonight since then.  
"And what about you, Linda? What do you do for work?" asked Ray, wanting to change the subject back to her.  
"I'm in between jobs right now. I was working as a secretary for a law firm, but they lost a major case for the Stay Puft Marshmallow Company and they had to close down. I've been looking for something, anything, since then but it's a tough market right now," she answered with a sigh.

* * *

"Well, it was really nice meeting you," said Ray, his hands planted firmly in his coat pockets as he stood under a streetlight with Linda.  
Snow had just begun to fall and each delicate snowflake shimmered under the streetlight in silence.  
It was almost like magic.  
"It was nice meeting you too" replied Linda. "Hey, what time is it?"  
Ray pushed back his sleeve to reveal his watch.  
"It's midnight" he replied. "Happy new…"  
Linda moved into him quickly and planted a delicate kiss on his mouth.  
She was like a beam of summer sunshine against his cold winter lips.  
His head began to spin.  
She tucked a piece of paper into his mittened hand.  
"Call me," she said before turning around and walking off into the darkness, leaving him alone on the quiet street.  
Ray stood under the beam of light and looked down at the paper in his hand, her name and phone number written in pretty cursive loops.  
A shiver ran down his spine, not from the cold but from the instant love he felt for this beautiful, raven-haired queen of warmth.


	3. Lost

"Has anyone seen a slip of paper?" asked a very flustered Ray as he lifted up a Firehouse couch cushion and searched frantically beneath.  
It was the morning of New Years Day and although Ray had only met Linda just hours before, he'd already managed to lose her phone number.  
Egon, who was standing in the kitchen pouring himself a cup of coffee, darted his eyes across the room.  
The room was full of disorganised paper stacks; of course he'd _seen_ a slip of paper.  
"Are you looking for the readings from the Wentworth house? I'm still analysing…" offered Egon.  
"No, no, not that" interrupted Ray, his face looking more and more stressed as he crawled along the floor, scanning his eyes back and forth.  
He looked like a windup toy.  
"What's going on in here?" asked Audrey as she entered the lounge room and spotted Ray.  
Egon shrugged his shoulders and sipped his coffee.  
"I've lost her number! I've looked everywhere but I can't find it!" exclaimed Ray as he spotted a box of random electrical parts and began to dig through them wildly.  
Egon and Audrey exchanged glances as they tried to suppress their laughter.  
Poor Ray.  
They felt sorry for him, but he looked so ridiculous in his scattered search across the room for the phone number.

"Where'd you leave it last night?" asked Audrey as she moved to a stack of books and began sifting through them in an attempt to help Ray out.  
"If he knew where he'd left it, he wouldn't be searching for it now" replied Egon flatly.  
Audrey turned around and pulled a face at Egon.  
Ray stood up and scanned the room one last time before falling back on the couch in a defeated heap.  
He had tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep with excitement over having met Linda.  
She was everything he'd been looking for in a woman: beautiful, easy going, interesting, smart – and she'd already kissed him!  
He couldn't wait to call her and arrange a date - if only he could find her number.  
"Well, you know her name. Why don't you look her up?" offered Audrey.  
"I don't know what her last name is. She didn't tell me," replied Ray with a sigh.  
"All hope is lost. I'll never see her again now."


	4. Help Wanted

It was three weeks into a very blustery January.  
Ray unlocked the door to his bookshop and walked inside, setting off the high-pitched tinkle of the bell above the door.  
He bent down and picked up a stack of letters and fliers that lay in a scattered pile across the floor.  
He really didn't have enough time to be running Ray's Occult Books on his own anymore, so he was thankful that he'd placed a 'Help Wanted' ad in the paper a week ago.  
He'd come in today to work his way through the applicants.

Ray slammed the letters onto the counter and took a deep breath.  
The smell of used books, dust, stale cigarette smoke and exotic spices filled his lungs.  
It was an odd, yet comforting smell to him.  
A smell that was all too familiar but almost forgotten considering how busy the Ghostbusters had been lately.  
He looked at his watch and realised he had another 15 minutes before the first of the three job interviews were scheduled to start, so he lit up a cigarette and sat on a stool behind the counter.  
He took a long drag and wondered what kind of people would have applied for a job at an occult bookstore.

Suddenly the door opened, setting off the tinkling of the bell once more.  
Ray looked up through the smoky haze.  
"Sorry, we're not open yet. Come back in a few hours" he said to the figure that had just walked in.  
"I'm sorry, I know I'm early for the job interview…" came a female voice.  
The figure appeared through the haze and into view.  
It was Linda.

Ray let the cigarette fall from his mouth.  
Stunned, he stared at her, not knowing what to say.  
Was he dreaming?  
He hadn't been able to stop thinking of her, the connection he'd felt to her.  
He'd never expected to see her again; yet, here she was, standing in his bookstore.  
Linda stared back at him, having clearly not expected the Ray from Ray's Occult Books to be _this_ Ray.

"H, hi" stammered Ray, desperate to break the awkward silence. "Sit down. Please."  
Ray noticed she was wearing a hip hugging pencil skirt and a black blouse that revealed just a hint of her full cleavage.  
The ends of her dark bob still curled around her ears.  
The beauty mark under her eye still caught his attention.  
_God she's beautiful_, he caught himself thinking as she slid into a stool on the opposite side of the counter, facing him.  
She clutched her handbag and avoided his eye contact, clearly feeling uncomfortable.  
Here she was, face-to-face with the man she had really liked, the man who she'd really felt a connection with, the man who had never called her.  
She'd never admit it, but Linda had avoided leaving her house for a whole week since New Years Day, waiting for a phone call that would never come.  
She'd concluded that all men were letdowns, even the ones that appeared nice.

"I'm sorry I never called you…" started Ray, thinking quickly about the best way to apologise and explain how he'd lost her number.  
"Please don't mention it" interrupted Linda with a raise of her hand. "I really need a job, so just let me get through the interview without having to talk about _that_."  
"Linda, it wasn't like that. I lost your number and…"  
"I don't need to hear your excuses. It doesn't matter. Let's pretend it never happened" she replied, still avoiding Ray's eye contact.  
Ray didn't know what to say next. She'd clearly assumed he hadn't called her on purpose.  
Should he admit his feelings for her?  
Admit that he'd actually spent weeks agonising over her, replaying her kiss over and over?  
Fantasising over what could have been?  
He instead decided to ask her about her previous work experiences.

* * *

Linda left Ray's Occult Books with tears in her eyes.  
Walking quickly down the street, she wondered if she'd just made a huge mistake by accepting the job.  
She was desperate for work, that was true, but working for a man she had feelings for could prove to be disastrous, she thought.  
Still, a steady income meant she wouldn't have to worry about where her next rent payment was coming from.  
_Maybe it won't be so bad after all,_ she reassured herself as she wiped her tears and kept walking.


	5. Heat

"Oops, sorry!" said Ray apologetically as he bumped front on into Linda, sending a container of lucky rabbit feet out of her hands and across the floor.  
Linda had been working for Ray for just over a month now and he had been spending more time at the bookstore, desperate to be around her.  
("Doesn't that defeat the whole purpose of employing someone else?" Peter had asked him with a sly smile, well aware of the real reason why Ray was at the bookstore whenever there was a lull in the Ghostbusters workload).  
Everything seemed to be going okay between them - well, apart from the undercurrent of lust they felt for each other, which grew stronger every time they were together.  
It had been the cause of the increasingly frequent accidental bump-ins (Ray had a bruise on his forehead to prove it).  
Ray bent down to help Linda pick up the rabbit feet, his hand grazing hers as they reached for the same fluffy limb.  
An outsider would have known right away that they were both falling for each other, but Ray and Linda continued to pretend they weren't.  
It was as if they were at a stalemate:  
She'd reached out to him once before, had felt rejected and was too scared to make another move, while he felt like she'd likely reject any new advance made by him.  
So instead, the two bobbed and weaved around the store, around each other, finding excuses to be together without actually being together.  
It was all getting very complicated.

"I've rearranged the Historical Cults section. Is there anything else you'd like me to do before I leave?" asked Linda one cold February night just before close.  
"No, you've done more than enough today. Thank you" replied Ray as sat behind the counter, tallying up the day's takings and puffing on his pipe.  
"Well then, I'm going to finish up," replied Linda as she looked down at the sums across his notebook.  
"Oh, you wrote the numbers around the wrong way" she said, leaning over his shoulder to point a red fingernail to a figure on the page.  
Ray caught a trace of her scent – something sweet, like peaches and spring flowers.  
He ached for her.  
Working with Linda had made Ray desire her more than ever.  
It didn't help that she was deliberating wearing outfits that hugged her hourglass frame, as if teasing him, reminding him of what he was missing.  
(Ray wasn't the only one to notice – there had been an obvious increase in casual male browsers in the store over the last few weeks too).

Linda paused, aware of the electricity flowing between her and Ray in this very moment.  
She wanted him.  
It had become more than just a job, working at the bookstore.  
She would find excuses to arrive early, to finish late, anything to keep her with this man who she found incredibly cute and warm.  
She wondered how long they'd continue to dance around each other, ignoring the heat that was so strong between them.

As Linda leant in close to Ray, she wondered if now would be the right time to make a move…


	6. The Kiss and the Chaos

As Linda lent over Ray, he could feel the warmth radiating from her skin.  
He longed to kiss her, stroke her hair, feel his body against hers.  
Was now the right time?  
As his heart began to pound at the thought of making a move, Linda leant in and gently kissed his cheek before springing back, as if worried about his reaction.  
Ray turned and looked at her, his eyes staring into hers.  
Now was definitely the right time.  
He reached over and wrapped his hands around her waist, pulling her into him.  
Linda ran her hands through his hair and pressed her mouth against his, kissing him slowly, enjoying the taste of saltiness and tobacco on his lips.

After what could have been an eternity, they pulled away from each other, both catching their breath.  
Ray, his heart in his mouth, was the first to talk.  
"I've been crazy about you since we met."  
"I've wanted you just as much," she replied, her hand to his cheek.  
"What took us so long?" asked Ray, placing his hand over hers.  
"I don't know, I guess we're idiots" she replied, with a love struck grin before adding "By the way, I only rearranged the Historical Cults section so I'd be able to spend more time with you."  
"I thought so" replied Ray, matching her grin.  
Finally, it was confirmed, they were both equally infatuated with each other.  
They continued to kiss way past closing time. 

* * *

A few dates later, Ray arranged for Linda to visit him at the Firehouse.  
It was time for her to meet the gang.  
She'd agreed to meet Ray one overcast afternoon in early March, curious to see his other place of work and his living arrangements.  
Now she stood under the Ghostbusters sign, watching it swing softly in the breeze, a nervous knot in her stomach.  
It had been a while since she'd met the friends of a love interest and she wondered if they were all as passionate about the paranormal as Ray.  
She wondered if they'd like her.  
Linda pulled out a small compact mirror from her handbag and grinned into it, checking to make sure her lipstick was still in place.

Pushing her way through the heavy Firehouse door, she was instantly greeted by the bulky white form of the ECTO-1.  
"Well hello there" came a flirtatious male voice from further within the building.  
Linda walked past the ECTO-1, trying to find the source of the voice.  
She was met by Peter, who was dressed in a slime-splattered uniform, a cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth.  
He offered her a skewed smile and his hand to shake.  
"Oh no you don't, mister!" came a wiry female voice from behind him.  
It was Janine.  
She pushed past Peter and grabbed hold of Linda's arm, walking her towards the stairs.  
"Hi Linda, I'm Janine, it's real nice to finally meet you. Ray's told me all about you. Don't mind Peter here."  
"Oh _your_ Linda. Well, I have to say, Ray's got good taste" piped up Peter with a wink.  
Linda looked back over her shoulder at Peter who gave her a little wave of his hand as she began to climb the stairs.  
"I love the way you wear your hair. "Is that your natural colour?" started Janine. "You know Ray really likes you, he talks about you all the time. I think he's ready to find love and settle down, you know. I think seeing Egon and Audrey and me and Louis together has really made him think seriously about that. I think you'll fit right in here and..." rambled Janine quickly before being greeted at the top of the stairs by Ray.

"Oh hey! You've arrived at the perfect time! Come in!" he said, releasing Linda from Janine's continued babble.  
He held her hand and led her into the lounge room.  
It was exactly how she'd imagined: messy and cluttered – the ultimate bachelor pad for a bunch of obsessive scientists.  
On the floor she spotted a man and a woman who were introduced to her as Egon and Audrey.  
They were both sitting opposite each other on the floor, two large wire covered metal colanders on their heads.  
They appeared to be woven together in a tangled mess of long multi-coloured wires.  
Egon, his eyebrows furrowed, was twisting the dials of the machine the wires fed into.  
Audrey looked on, bored.  
"See, Egon and I have been experimenting with telepathic communication devices, and I think we might have finally discovered a breakthrough!" exclaimed Ray, squeezing Linda's hand excitedly.  
"Can we make this quick Egon, I've got marking to do" said Audrey as she adjusted the colander on her head.  
Audrey looked over to Linda and smiled. "Welcome to the club Linda! This is what you have to look forward to!"  
Suddenly, the machine Egon had been fiddling with let out a puff of white smoke.  
He furrowed his brows again before reaching for a screwdriver and unscrewing a panel to reveal even more wires.  
"Err, of course with science, some experimentation is required" said Ray with a crooked smile. "Come on, let me show you around!"

Ray led Linda through the Firehouse, explaining in detail about the research facilities, the containment unit, the data they collect.  
All of it went over Linda's head.  
Finally, they arrived at his bedroom, three single beds in a row.  
"Don't worry," he said as she looked at the beds, "I'm the only one sleeping in here at the moment."  
She smiled at him with a seductive tilt of her head, instigating a change in the mood.  
He smiled back, unable to deny her.  
Moving into her, he held her close, once again taking in her scent, her skin, her kiss...

Suddenly the bedroom door burst open.  
It was Janine.  
"By the way Linda, Audrey and I are in a book club together. You should come along too! Here's the title of next months book. Oh, did I just interrupt something?" she said, her eyes widening as she noticed Ray and Linda holding each other close.  
"Oops! Excuse me!" she finished before slipping out of the bedroom and closing the door behind her.  
Ray and Linda looked at each other and giggled.  
"You'll have to get used to that around here I'm afraid," said Ray with a scratch of his head.

As they made their way back into the lounge room, Linda picked up the piece of paper from Janine and tucked it into the pocket of her cardigan.  
Linda sat with Ray on the couch, drinking coffee as they discussed where to go for dinner.  
Around them the Firehouse buzzed away.  
Egon and Audrey were still on the floor trying out the telepathic communication device.  
Audrey bit her lip and stared at Egon while he darted his eyes around the room and blushed.  
It looked like they had got it to work.

The bustling in between the walls of the Firehouse seemed chaotic and disorganised, but Linda liked it.  
As she sipped her coffee and looked on at Ray, she felt that she could get used to this.


	7. Don't Cry Over Spilt Love Potion

The next day, Linda arrived at the bookshop to a new shipment sitting on the doorstep in a large brown box.  
She carried it inside and placed in on the counter before spotting a note from Ray: 'Just letting you know that I'm thinking about you' it said.  
Short, sweet but straight to the heart.  
Linda couldn't help but smile.

Ray's note suddenly reminded of Janine's note about the book from the night before.  
Linda fished around in her cardigan pocket and placed the note on the counter on top of Ray's, hoping it would remind her to visit the library on her lunch break.  
With that, she began to unpack the box.

There were a few new books inside including 'More Magical Paths to Fortune and Power' as well as some unusual vials of potion.  
The last one she took out of the box caught her eye: 'Aphrodite Love Potion.'  
She held it in her hand, admiring the ornate crystal vial and the pale pink liquid inside.  
She placed it on counter and moved the empty box to the floor.  
As she did so, the crystal vial of 'Aphrodite Love Potion' tipped onto its side, causing it's stopper to fall out and a steady trickle of liquid to pool on the counter.  
"Oh shit!" said Linda, quickly picking up the vial and clearing everything off the counter before reaching for a rag to mop up the spill.  
Luckily the potion hadn't damaged anything except the two notes from Ray and Janine.  
_That was lucky,_ she thought as she tossed the soggy notes into the trash.

Little did she know that this small puddle of potion was about to unleash a tidal wave of problems.


	8. Strange Love

"Are you feeling okay?" Linda asked Ray the following morning as they worked alongside each other in the bookshop.  
"Oh yeah, I feel great!" he replied without even looking up at her.  
Ray had been sitting behind the counter with his head in his hand doodling in a notebook for the last 45 minutes.  
He hadn't kissed Linda good morning, or even told her how nice she looked today.  
Nothing.  
"How about we close up shop and spend the afternoon making crazy, passionate love?" she asked him, trying to get a reaction.  
Still nothing.  
She began to worry.  
He'd never seemed so distant before.

"Hey, I think I'm going to take an early lunch break today. I'm going to go over to the Firehouse and see if Janine is around" said Ray, standing up and reaching for his coat.  
"Oh, okay. Is something wrong?" asked Linda, curious as to why he needed to see Janine all of a sudden.  
"Oh no, nothings wrong. I just really have to see her, that's all!" he replied as he made his way to the door. "See ya later!"  
"Bye" Linda replied quietly, but Ray had already left.  
She made her way over to the counter to see what he'd been writing in the notebook.  
In blue ink was a giant love heart with Janine's name written over and over again inside.  
Linda could feel hot tears begin to fill her eyes.  
Had he been seeing Janine behind her back?  
Was this his cowardly way of breaking up with her?  
Linda had felt herself falling for Ray more and more each day, assuming he had felt the same way, but here he was, clearly in love with someone else.  
She could feel her heart begin to break.

* * *

Janine had been acting strange all morning: dreamy stares and sweet smiles.  
Something was definitely out of order, noticed Peter, but he couldn't put his finger on it.  
_Louis was in Florida visiting his mother, could she just be missing him,_ he wondered.  
Suddenly, Ray arrived.

Ignoring Peter, he made his way straight to Janine, where they stared at each other lustfully and exchanged flirtatious remarks.  
Egon appeared from the basement and offered a hello to Ray, who ignored him, unable to pull his dopey gaze from Janine.  
"What's up with him?" Egon asked Peter.  
"Beats me. Janine's been acting weird all morning, now Ray too. It's like they're _in love _with each other," said Peter, who was becoming increasingly amused by their behaviour.  
Egon furrowed his brow and reached for his PKE Meter.  
He scanned them both, but there were no reading.  
Whatever was happening, it wasn't linked to any psychokinetic activity.

"Oh Janine, I love you with all my heart!" exclaimed Ray.  
"I love you too! Take me into your arms!" replied Janine dramatically, thrusting herself at Ray.  
He embraced her, dipping her backwards and kissing her deeply.  
The scene resembled an old black and white Hollywood film.  
At that moment, the Firehouse door opened and Linda appeared, catching the kiss between Ray and Janine with her own eyes.  
She had come to confront him, to find out his true feelings, but here he was, making his feelings perfectly clear to her.  
Linda ran from the Firehouse, tears rolling down her cheeks.  
Seeing Ray kiss Janine was the twist of the dagger in her already broken heart.

Egon and Peter exchanged confused glances.  
Ray and Janine declaring their love for one another and kissing, Linda walking in, then leaving in tears…  
"What exactly is going on here?" asked Peter with a raise of an eyebrow.  
"I have no idea," replied Egon. "But I think it's up to us to get to get to the bottom of it."


	9. The Grand Gesture

Ray's desperate pleas continued to go unanswered.  
He'd lost count of how many messages he'd left on Linda's answering machine over the last three weeks.  
All attempts to contact her were futile - Linda was ignoring him and there was nothing he could do about it.  
He was desperate to explain himself, to explain the mix up with the potion; to tell her that it wasn't really him kissing Janine, that in fact he actually _loved_ _her.  
_It was true.  
The months spent with Linda by his side had been his best.  
She made him feel confident, happy, content.  
Now she was gone Ray realised just how much she meant to him, how much he really did love her.  
He felt hollow without her.  
(Janine, meanwhile, had spent the last three weeks sheepishly avoiding eye contact with Ray, still feeling deeply embarrassed about the whole situation. Peter had been relishing in their awkwardness with each other).

Audrey poured Ray a hot cup of peppermint tea and placed it on the coffee table next to the couch where he lay with his head buried underneath a cushion.  
She sat down opposite him and watched him, not sure if she should say anything or not.  
"Still nothing?" she asked him after a minute or so.  
Ray popped his head out from beneath the cushion and shook his head.  
"You know what you need to do?" offered Audrey. "A grand gesture."  
Ray turned his head to Audrey, not sure what she meant.  
"You know, like in an old Hollywood movie. Go to her and sing of your undying love from her doorstep. Bring flowers, break down and cry in the rain until she comes down and sweeps you up into her arms and tells you she loves you too. Then you kiss and live happily ever after," she said with an encouraging smile.  
"So that's what you get up to when I'm working late," piped up Egon from across the room. "You stay up and watch old movies."  
He smirked at her affectionately.  
"Your right" replied Ray, sitting up straight. "I need to do something to win her back. A grand gesture!"  
Grabbing his coat and rushing to the door, he didn't know what the grand gesture would be, but he knew that if he was going to win Linda back, he had to do something _right now_. 

* * *

Stopping and buying a bunch of flowers was the first step in Ray's plan.  
He walked down the street on the way to Linda's house, a spring in his step at the anticipation of winning her back.  
It had been raining on and off all day and now in the early evening the ground was slick with water, the city lights casting coloured shadows across the road.  
Every step brought him closer and closer to her.  
Finally, her building came into view.

Ray had gotten to know it well this last three weeks, having taken long aimless drives in the ECTO-1 right past her house late at night, just wanting to feel a sense of her.  
He wondered if she'd ever caught the set of headlights sweep past a little too slow.  
Ray walked up the stoop of her old brownstone apartment and rang her buzzer, arranging the flowers while he waited for her to reply.

Nothing.  
He buzzed again and waiting.  
Still nothing.  
She wasn't home.  
Ray hadn't planned much in the way of his grand gesture, but he hadn't expected a bump in the road like this.  
He scratched his head, thinking what to do next.

Ray leant against Linda's stoop and waited.  
_Surely she won't be long_, he thought to himself.

Ray stood on the footpath, looking back and forth down the street.  
_Any minute now_, he thought.

Ray sat on the stoop and smoked a cigarette.  
_Where is she,_ he wondered.

"You there!" came a voice from above.  
Ray looked up to find an old lady leaning out of her window.  
"You're up to no good! If you don't leave I'm going to call the cops!" she yelled before slamming her window shut, causing the pane of glass to wobble.  
"I'm just waiting for someone!" Ray yelled back before rolling his eyes and sitting back on the stoop.

Ray leant against the stoop again.  
_She's not coming,_ he concluded with a sigh.

As he made his way back onto the footpath, feeling defeated, he bumped right into Linda.  
"Oh, sorry!" he said, before looking up and realising who it was. "Linda!"  
Finally, his chance had come!  
He was going to make everything okay!  
He could feel the words he longed to say begin to bubble up inside him, ready to apologise, explain the mix up and confess his love for her…  
…until he noticed the man standing next to her, holding her hand.  
Ray suddenly didn't have anything to say.

There was an awkward silence as Ray's eyes darted between Linda to The Man, whose clean-shaven face, slicked back hair and nice clothes made him feel a mixed wave of insecurity and jealousy.  
Had Linda really moved on already?  
Didn't she feel the same way for him as he did for her?  
"Would you excuse me for a moment?" said Linda to The Man before walking a little way down the footpath, waiting for Ray to follow.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him once she was out of earshot from The Man.  
"I came to see you. You haven't been returning my calls," replied Ray, looking over Linda's shoulder at The Man, cursing him in his mind.  
"I've had nothing to say to you. Do you even have anything to say to me? You're actions pretty much said it all" she retorted.  
"Of course I have things to say to you, I've been wanting to talk to you so I could explain what really happened the other day. See it was all to do with…" replied Ray, desperately wanting to make her see the truth.  
"I don't want to hear it Ray! It's the second time you've let me down. I was an idiot for ever getting involved with you," she said, her voice wavering as she began to turn away from him.  
"Hey, wait!" said Ray, reaching for her arm.  
"No. I'm done with you, Ray. Leave me alone."  
Linda turned away from Ray and walked back to The Man.

Ray stood on the footpath and watched them enter her building together, helpless and unable to stop them.  
He cursed The Man under his breath.  
He stood on the wet footpath, the coloured shadows glowing underneath his feet as he clutched the flowers in his hand, having forgotten he'd still been holding them.  
He didn't know what to do.


	10. Waiting

Ray let his options swirl around in his head again and again and again.  
He could let Linda go, move on, forget about her - or he could try again to win her back.  
He'd played each option over in his mind, analysing them both, considering the cause and effect, weighing up the pros and cons.  
He cursed his academic mind for being so thorough, but he'd made a decision.

* * *

Each footstep pounded the wet pavement, each one heavier than the last.  
Under the cover of darkness, Ray was on his way back to Linda's apartment.  
This time he was not going to leave until he'd said everything he'd wanted to say.  
He climbed up her stoop again, this time more determined than ever.  
He rang her buzzer and waited.

"Who is it?" came the fuzzy reply.  
"It's Ray."  
His voice faltered. He was nervous.  
"I told you, I don't want to see you" Linda replied after a moment.  
"Well I'm not leaving until you come down and speak to me" he replied.  
"I _told you_, I don't want to see you" she replied again, this time her own voice faltering.  
"Okay. Well, I'm just going to be waiting right here until you do" he replied before moving away from the door and sitting on her stoop.

Ray pulled a cigarette from his coat pocket and lit it.  
He took a deep drag, knowing he was going to be in for a long wait.  
He was determined to wait, but hoped the rain would stay away while he did.  
Linda waited 10 minutes before peeling back the curtain slightly and peering down at the stoop.  
He was still there, illuminated by the glow of a streetlight.  
She wondered how long he'd stick around.

Linda let a little more time pass before looking out the window again.  
Ray was still there.  
It was getting late and the rain was starting to pick up again.

Linda showered and changed into her pyjamas.  
She peeked out the window again, expecting Ray to have left ages ago.  
To her surprise he was still there, huddled over on the stoop, the hood of his coat pulled up over his head as he tried in vain to shelter from the fat drops of rain that tumbled from the sky.  
She felt sorry for him in that moment.  
She considered going down and letting him up to her apartment, but then she remembered how much she'd cried for him after seeing Janine in his arms, his mouth pressed to hers.  
She'd played the moment over and over in her head, unable to scrub the image away.  
It still made her feel sick when she thought about it.  
Linda moved away from the window.  
_He'd be an idiot to stick around in the rain. He'll be gone in a minute,_ she reassured herself before heading to her bedroom and climbing between the sheets.

As Linda lay in bed, flicking through a magazine, she heard the rain falling hard outside.  
Against her better judgement, she slipped out of bed and went to the window one final time.  
Ray was still there.  
Linda felt her heart pang.  
She knew she couldn't let him wait out there any longer.  
She threw her coat over her pyjamas and headed downstairs.  
Opening the door, she saw Ray, huddled over in a wet chattering mess. He was like an abandoned puppy, desperate for a warm bed and someone to love him.  
He looked up at her and smiled, his smile still as warm as ever.  
Linda felt her heart melt.  
"You'd better come in" she said softly.


	11. All's Well That Ends Well

Ray had managed to explain the entire mix up with the love potion, his lack of memory of the whole event, Egon and Peter's sleuthing _and_ fit in a sincere apology all before they'd reached Linda's apartment door.  
Linda had to admit, his explanation did make complete sense.  
Now she was the one feeling guilty for not letting him explain earlier and for being the one who spilt the potion in the first place.  
Linda knew she'd been completely cruel in the way she'd handled things.  
She knew she never should have doubted Ray's kindness or loyalty to her.  
She knew he wasn't like that.  
Now it was her turn to apologise.

As she opened her door and led Ray inside, she turned to him and asked for his forgiveness.  
Tears began to stream down her face.  
She wanted him back.  
She needed him.  
She loved him.

Ray stared into her eyes, finally sensing they were moving on from the awful miscommunication, both ready to start over again.  
He moved into her and gently kissed her.  
"By the way, that man I was with" started Linda as she pulled back from Ray's lips. "Nothing happened. We held hands over dinner a couple of times, but nothing more. That night you saw him, he walked me to my apartment door then left. He was a boring Wall Street type anyway - and no where near as handsome as you..."  
He smiled, secretly relieved nothing had happened between the two, and kissed her again.

Ray was cold and wet but the burning heat for her was still there.  
Linda tasted the rain on his lips and suddenly everything felt okay.  
He moved his body into hers, no longer feeling the cold, no longer caring how wet he was.  
Linda felt his damp skin against hers and it sent a shiver up and down her spine.  
She began to peel back his layers, piece by piece, wanting him out of his clothes, guiding him slowly to her bed.  
She let them fall into sodden puddles on the floor, marking a trail from the lounge room to her bedroom.

His coat.

His jumper.

His shirt.

His belt.

His pants.

Down to his underwear, the only dry item of clothing left, he held her in his arms.  
"I love you," he said softly, laying his heart on the line, no longer wanting to hold anything back from her.  
She wrapped her arms around his neck.  
"I love you too" she replied, her heart pounding.  
He kissed her lips again, tender but hard.  
He wanted her.  
She groaned as he kissed his way down her neck and rubbed his hands down her body, feeling the curves beneath her pyjamas.  
She quickly slipped them off, letting them fall to the ground as the final item in the clothing trail to her room.  
She was his now, well and truly his.


	12. New Season, New Changes

**PART TWO**

The seasons changed, filling the air with the sweet scent of spring blossoms mixed with engine fumes from the ever-busy New York streets.  
It was the season of love and Linda couldn't have appreciated the spring days any more, having been with Ray for two blissful (and drama free) months.  
After declared their true feelings for each other, they had spent every spare moment at each other's side, tumbling between sheets and conversing excitedly about their future plans.  
They were building a nest of happiness, entwining their lives together one twig at a time.

On one particularly bright and cheerful day, Linda was pleasantly surprised when Ray visited the bookshop, two brown paper bags in his hands.  
"Lunch time!" he'd said excitedly, happy to be seeing her during the day.  
Linda closed up the bookshop, which she had resumed managing, and they walked hand in hand down St Marks Place to Tompkins Square Park to eat lunch, stopping to buy coffee along the way.

Sitting on a bench underneath the shady canopy of a large elm tree, they ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (the only food Ray could prepare with any sort of confidence) and watched people walk past.  
"I love you Ray," said Linda softly.  
It could have been the perfect weather, or the feeling of a satisfied stomach, but she was suddenly overcome with emotion.  
"I love you too!" mumbled Ray in reply, peanut butter sticking to the roof of his mouth.  
Everything was perfect.

Later on that afternoon, Linda flitted around her apartment, tidying up before Ray was due to come over later on.  
As she dusted her dining table, she accidentally knocked her diary onto the floor.  
Picking it up, she flicked to the current date, suddenly remembering that her period was due.  
She skipped back a page and realised that she was in fact late.  
A wave of panic rolled over her.  
Could she be pregnant?


	13. Up, then Down

"Ray, I have something to tell you and I don't want you to freak out, okay" piped up Linda after having made sure Ray was seated comfortably on her couch when he came around to visit her later on that day.  
"What's wrong? Are you okay? Is it something I've done? I know I work a lot of late nights and…" began Ray, his stomach dropping as he wondered if Linda was about to break up with him.  
"No Ray, it's nothing like that!" interrupted Linda. "I think I might be…"  
She paused, trying to summon the word to her lips, not sure if she could even comprehend the possibility of the situation herself yet.  
"I think I might be…pregnant," she finally uttered, setting the word free.

"P, p, p… pregnant?" stammered Ray, suddenly feeling as if he'd been run over by a cement truck.  
Linda sat down beside him and began to nibble a fingernail nervously, unsure as to how Ray would feel about the situation.  
Neither Ray nor Linda had even mentioned the idea of children in the plans they had been making together over the last few months, although starting a family had always been something Linda had longed to do.  
Ray looked at her, speechless, chewing the idea over in his head.  
He'd always loved children, always wanted them, but he had never expected that having a child might actually become a reality of his.  
"Linda, if you really are pregnant, then…" he started, as Linda held her breath in anticipation for his response.  
"…I think this is the happiest day of my life!"  
"Oh Ray!" gasped Linda, delighted with his response.  
They hugged each other tight and held onto one another for a long, silent moment before finally pulling apart, wide grins across both their faces.  
"I've made a doctors appointment for two weeks time. I couldn't get in any earlier, but we'll be able to confirm everything for sure then," said Linda excitedly, squeezing Ray's hand.  
"Well, if we are about to start a family together, then I think I need to do the right thing," said Ray softly as he slid off of the couch and onto one knee in front of her.  
"Linda Anne Wright – will you marry me?" asked Ray as he stared lovingly into Linda's eyes.  
Linda felt a wave on nausea in her stomach as her heart began to pound.  
"No" she replied quickly. "No!"


	14. Hot Coffee and Wedding Dresses

"…and then she said no" said Ray glumly as he finished retelling the story of his rejected proposal to the shocked faces of Peter, Egon and Audrey as they stood around the pool table at the Firehouse.  
Catching their expressions, Ray crossed his arms on the pool table and buried his head on top.  
Following the proposal, Ray had hastily left Linda's apartment and now, an hour later, he was surrounded by the familiar comfort of the Firehouse, safe at last.

Ray's head was fuzzy.  
He couldn't make sense of everything that had happened.  
"You know, there is a slim change you may have slipped into a parallel universe" began Egon, his mind racing at the possibility. "If you don't mind, I'd like to run some tests…" he continued before Audrey jabbed him in the ribs and shook her head at him.  
"Pfft, women! They're all nuts!" exclaimed Peter before patting Ray on the shoulder and heading to the bedroom, knowing the fallout of Ray's rejection would best be left to more capable hands.  
Egon and Audrey exchanged awkward glances.  
Their own wedding was only a week away and it suddenly felt like a sore point.  
Egon stood beside Ray and opened his mouth, about to speak, before realising he didn't know what to say.  
Although Ray, Egon and Peter had been friends and colleagues for longer than any of them would care to remember, they very rarely talked openly about their feelings.  
So Egon, following Peter's lead, patted Ray on the shoulder before wandered off upstairs, knowing Audrey would have the right words for Ray.

Audrey watched Egon leave the room before turning back to Ray, who still had his face buried between his folded arms.  
"Coffee?" she asked him, hoping to break the silence.  
"Mmmm," he mumbled in reply before looking up and realising everyone else had left.  
Audrey busied herself in the kitchen and came back to the pool table with a hot cup of coffee (with a shot of whiskey, hoping it might take the edge off).  
"So… big night you had, huh?" offered Audrey with a sympathetic smile. "What made you propose in the first place?"  
Ray took a sip from his cup.  
He didn't want to mention Linda's pregnancy news, as it was still early and not even confirmed yet.  
"I thought it was the right time," Ray answered, his voice cracking.  
"I'm so surprised she said no," mused Audrey. "You two seem so perfect for each other."  
"That's what I thought too" replied Ray, taking another long sip from his cup, thankful for the relief of the alcohol.  
"Well, I'm seeing Linda tomorrow. I'll talk to her and see if I can get some answers for you" offered Audrey as she watched Ray drain the last of the coffee from his cup.

* * *

The very next afternoon, Audrey met both Linda and Janine at a busy department store for a very important job – to find Audrey a wedding dress.  
Janine busied herself with a constant stream of chatter as she flitted around the store finding dresses.  
Linda, meanwhile, was noticeably quiet as she watched Audrey dig through the racks of dresses, feeling a ping of guilt in her stomach as she watched on.  
She hadn't spoken to Ray again since he left last night.  
She was hoping that by putting a few days distance between them, it might help clear the air as she tried to think of the best way to explain to him why she had said no.

Once Janine was out of earshot, Audrey turned to Linda.  
"What happened between you and Ray last night?" she asked quietly.  
Linda thought for a moment, trying to find the right words that would make what she was about to say seem a little less strange.  
"I just don't really believe in marriage" was her simple reply.  
Linda loved Ray, there was no denying that, and the thought of carrying his baby filled her with joy.  
Marriage on the other hand, filled her with dread.  
Audrey stopped thumbing through the clothes racks and looked at Linda.  
"You know, I used to feel the same way. Now look at me," she said with a slight smile.  
"I guess you're lucky that you changed your mind. I know I could never change mine," replied Linda firmly.  
"Well, you'd better explain why to Ray. He loves you more than anything and he's feeling pretty hurt and confused right now," came Audrey's gentle reply before holding up a dress and pressing it against her body. "I think this is the one!"


	15. Tea and Understanding

Ray took a deep breath and exhaled deeply before rapping his knuckles against Linda's door.  
She opened it an instant later, having been anticipating his knock.  
Linda stared at Ray, her eyes as large as saucers, worried about seeing him after so many silent days had passed by since his proposal.  
She invited him in.

Ray walked into her lounge room and went to sit down on her couch before changing his mind.  
It was the exact place where their last encounter had unfolded and he didn't want to tempt luck by sitting there again.  
Instead he trailed her to the kitchen where she filled the kettle, ready to make him a cup of tea.  
Ray had never liked tea, but he never told Linda that.  
As he stood in her kitchen, he thought about what ridiculous a notion that was before Linda cleared her throat and handing him a cup.  
"Thank you," he said quietly, the first thing he'd said since stepping foot into her apartment.  
He watched the steam rise and swirl into the air, reminding him of the spirits he trapped everyday.  
Ghosts he felt he could understand, predict, capture - women on the other hand…

"I have some explaining to do," said Linda, tucking a strand of short dark hair behind her ear as she leant against the kitchen counter across from Ray.  
"I'm sorry about how things ended the other night," she began before pausing to collect the next lot of words to say.  
"I didn't mean for what I said to come out the way that it did."  
"What did you mean, Linda? From what I can tell, your meaning was crystal clear," said Ray, trying to disguise the hurt in his voice by taking a sip of tea.  
"I'm so sorry, Ray. I know that must have really hurt you, but please let me explain."  
She paused again and stared at Ray, giving him a chance to interject.  
When he didn't, she went on.  
"The truth is, I don't believe in marriage."  
Audrey had relayed the same words to Ray after talking to Linda, but hearing them fall from Linda's own mouth left him speechless.  
Marriage had always been something he'd assumed he'd do once he found the right person.  
Now that he'd met Linda, he felt like she could be the right person.  
Linda continued.  
"See, my mother and father were married when I was young, but they made each other's lives so miserable. They would fight. They would shout, I mean really shout, all the time."  
Linda paused to regain her composure before going on.  
"Night after night my little sister would crawl into my bed, scared, and we'd hold each other close until they'd finally give in hours later. I'd lie in bed and pray they would stop, begging for silence. My wish was always granted, because they would then go days, sometimes even weeks, without talking to one another. I was a teenager when they finally got divorced. I felt like I was stuck in the middle of their war. Since then I vowed I would never get married. I don't ever want to go through anything like that ever again."  
Ray took a moment to let the words sink in.  
"I'm so sorry," he said gently, reaching for her, wanting to comfort her.  
It suddenly all made sense.  
Ray felt his own insecurities roll away, the air clearing between them.  
Linda began sobbing into Ray's shoulder, finally releasing all her fears.  
She knew in her heart that Ray would never be like her father, but she still did not want to get married.  
Not now, not ever.  
Pulling back from him, Linda looked up at Ray's sweet face, grateful for his kindness, his understanding.  
"I'm sorry Ray. I hope you understand."  
"Of course," he replied, offering her a smile as he wiped away her tears and kissing her forehead.  
He was genuinely sorry to hear about Linda's parents, but still sad to hear that she would not change her mind.  
"Maybe you'll feel differently when the baby arrives," he added hopefully. "You wait Linda Wright, one day I'll catch you."


	16. Revelations

Linda awoke the next morning with a dull ache in her stomach.  
She sat up and rubbed a hand over her abdomen.  
She knew this feeling.  
Gently removing Ray's hand from her leg as he slept beside her, she tiptoed to the bathroom and confirmed her worst fears.  
She'd started her period.

The realisation began to roll over her: she wasn't pregnant after all, she never had been.  
_I can't believe I jumped the gun like that,_ she thought to herself as she stared into the mirror.  
Over the last week, the idea of having Ray's baby had sunk in, becoming a reality she had wanted more than anything.  
Now in the blink of an eye it was taken from her.  
She was devastated, and she knew Ray would be too.

Linda returned back to bed, climbing beneath the sheets as the early morning sun began to filter into the bedroom, promising another bright and clear day.  
She lay facing Ray, who had roused at her return to bed.  
"Good morning" he offered her in a sleepy haze before Linda broke the news.

* * *

The following afternoon, as the sun peaked shyly behind large fluffy clouds, they watched Egon and Audrey exchange wedding vows, their happiness as radiant as the summer sun.  
It had been the last thing Linda had wanted to do that day, but she knew it would help to take her mind off the sudden twist of events.

That night, once the bride and groom had left the reception and the bar was ready to close, Linda and Ray walked side by side down the street. The sky was clear, the moon large and bright as the street echoed its familiar night time melodies.  
Alone on the footpath, they were quiet, reflective, both lost in their own thoughts.  
"Great day, huh?" asked Ray after a while, breaking the silence.  
"Yeah, it was lovely," replied Linda.  
Ray stopped and grasped Linda's hands in his own.  
"I know things have been so up and down lately, but I want you to know that no matter what, I will always love you" he said faithfully.  
"I love you too Ray, always" replied Linda.

Under the full moon on that balmy summer night, they knew nothing could ever tear them apart.  
At least, not for another few months anyway...


	17. Unlocked

**PART THREE**

"Here, this is for you," said Linda excitedly as she handed Ray a white envelope.  
Ray had only just stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist.  
"I was going to wait until after dinner, but I really want you to have it now!" added Linda as she wrung her hands with excitement.  
"Well if it couldn't even wait until I had some clothes on, it must be something good!" replied Ray with a smile.  
With wet hands, he opened the envelope and pulled out a key.  
He looked up at Linda.  
Was this what he thought it was?  
"It's a key to the apartment. You spend pretty much every night here anyway, so it's probably time you had one," she said, a grin growing across her face.  
It was the closest thing to marriage that Linda could offer Ray, and the timing seemed perfect.  
Their relationship had grown so much over the months.  
It was now November.  
The weather had turned bitter cold and miserable, but their love had only grown warmer.  
"Does this mean…. I'm moving in?" asked Ray with a raise of his eyebrow as he looked at the key in his hand.  
It was a precious gift, worth more to him than anything else he owned.  
He knew what this signified for Linda and felt a sudden surge of love for her.  
"Uh huh," she replied with a seductive tilt of her head.  
Ray moved in to her, his body pressed to hers before slowly planting a soft kiss against her lips.  
"You're all wet," she whispered as he began nuzzling her neck.  
"You didn't give me a chance to dry off," he replied.  
Linda stood back from Ray and began to walk off into the bedroom.  
"Dry off and meet me in here" she said as she cast a cheeky glance in his direction before disappearing into the room.  
"Oh, and don't leave your wet towel on the floor. If you live here, you have to tidy up after yourself!"

* * *

Later on they went for dinner at a small casual bistro near to their apartment and stopped for ice cream on the way home.  
"Hey!" called out a female voice as Ray was handed his double-scooped cone.  
Linda and Ray turned around to find Egon and Audrey entering the shop.  
Shortly after their wedding, Egon and Audrey had purchased a beautiful apartment (at a good price!) just a few doors up from Linda's place.  
They were all pretty much neighbours now.  
"Egon, I think we're gonna have to find a new place, otherwise these guys are going to find out just how much ice cream we eat" said Audrey to Egon with a wink.  
The four of them, ice creams in hand, walked back in the direction of their apartments.  
Linda walked with Audrey while Ray and Egon walked behind, lost in discussion about the possible cause for their recent spike in work.  
"I gave Ray a key to my apartment tonight" said Linda quietly to Audrey.  
Audrey flashed her a surprised grin.  
"Well that can only mean one thing! Congratulations!" she replied before shooting a grin in Ray's direction.  
Ray hadn't even heard her between his jargon filled dialogue with Egon.  
"God, these two" said Audrey with a playful roll of her eyes. "Can they ever talk about anything that's not work?"  
"They sure have been busy lately" replied Linda. "I think something big might be brewing."  
She was right.


	18. Taking Charge

Linda's head grew fuzzy with chaotic confusion.  
"Missing?" she asked down the phone to Janine, who had just filled her in on the Ghostbusters sudden disappearance from the public library.  
She grabbed the phone off the table and stretching the cord across the room, rushing to turn on the television.  
A news broadcast flickered onto the screen: 'Ghostbusters missing on the job!'  
"Janine, I'll be right there," she said before ending the call.  
Linda stood and stared at the screen, unable to look away or even blink.  
She had seen the news that morning, the footage of the Ghostbusters fighting the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, from her apartment as the whole city was in lockdown.  
Linda had waited all day for a phone call, some kind of confirmation that they were all alright.  
But here she was, being told they were now missing.

Linda wasn't going to wait around in the apartment anymore, she needed to be proactive.  
But first, she had to call Audrey.  
"Hello?" came a fragile voice from the opposite end of the line.  
"Audrey, have you heard?" asked Linda.  
"Yes."  
Linda could tell she was a mess.  
She promised to visit Audrey later on, hopefully with some more information straight from the Firehouse.

* * *

The Firehouse.  
There was a bustle of activity around the door, around the whole block, as camera crews and reporters blocked the street in eager pursuit of a Ghostbusters scoop.  
Linda pushed her way past forcefully, slipping into the Firehouse and slamming the door behind her without having uttered a word to anyone.  
Inside Janine and Louis looked frazzled and fearful.  
The Ghostbusters had to deal with bizarre circumstances all the time, but this was off the charts.  
They had no idea what to do.

Linda reassured them that everything would be okay, while still trying to reassure herself.  
"Have the police been here yet?" asked Linda, trying to gather a plan together.  
Someone was going to have to take control of the Firehouse while the Ghostbusters were missing.  
It might as well be her.  
"Yes, they only just left" replied Louis nervously.  
"Did they have any new information? Any clues to where they went?" probed Linda.  
"No, not really. They said this was specialist work. They're trying to find a detective who has some experience with the occult. They should be in the city by tomorrow morning" replied Janine as she placed her hands on her hips and began to bite her lip.  
"Okay, good. Anything else?"  
"Well, after I found out about them going missing, I went to the filing cabinet in the basement where Dr Spengler keeps all his important notes. He's always asking me to organise paperwork about different stuff they're doing here and I'm in charge of keeping his filing cabinet in order. It really is a lot of work you know, having to write out labels for all his experiments and working out a system so he can find all his notes again. Plus his handwriting can be really hard to read sometimes..."  
"Okay Janine, what did you find?" interrupted Linda in an attempt to break Janine's chatter and get to the point.  
"Well, I remember making a label for a file about a bunch of procedures for the Firehouse. I went and found it in the filing cabinet, just in case it had some information about what to do if they all go missing. It was easy to find because I had filed alphanumerically under…"  
"Did you find a procedure?" interrupted Linda again, through gritted teeth this time.  
"Yes. Look" said Janine, oblivious to Linda's frustration.  
She handed Linda a photocopy of a hand written document.

There were twenty or so pages in total, stapled together neatly along the left side.  
'In Case of Disappearance' was the heading, scrawled across the top of the first page in Egon's handwriting.  
Linda felt a flood of relief roll over her.  
She loved how forward thinking and responsible Egon was and she thanked him profusely under her breath as she flipped through the pages.  
The document listed everything anyone could possibly want to know about how to run and maintain the Firehouse in their absence.  
All Linda had to do now was delegate the duties between herself, Janine and Louis until the Ghostbusters came back.  
_They'd better come back,_ she thought to herself as she clutter the document tightly in her hands.


	19. Promise

Over the next few months, Linda took charge of the Firehouse.  
She assisted Janine in fielding calls, responding to media enquiries, providing evidence to the police and generally keeping things ticking over with the expectation that the Ghostbusters would return at any moment.  
But as the days turned into weeks, then months, she was secretly beginning to lose hope.  
The Ghostbusters had vanished from the Library leaving nothing behind except puddles of inky black slime.  
The mystery of it bothered Linda to the point where she was unable to think about anything else.

* * *

One night, well after dark, Linda was alone in the Firehouse.  
She had taken to sleeping there, in Ray's bed, not wanting to remove herself in case they came back.  
She wandered aimlessly from room to room, running her fingers over every surface, lost in the thought of Ray.  
Tears began to well in her eyes.  
_What if Ray never comes back,_ she asked herself. _What if he's dead?_  
She had avoided the question for so long, not wanting to face the truth that it might be a possibility.  
Audrey had accepted it, having become a reclusive mess since the Ghostbusters disappeared.  
Linda cursed Audrey under her breath, angry at her weakness, angry at her for not helping out at the Firehouse, angry that she'd left her to put on the brave face even though she too was crumbling inside.  
She also cursed Audrey for being pregnant.  
_How lucky she is,_ thought Linda, _to carry the child of the man she loves._  
Linda wondered if she'd lost the chance to have a child when she'd lost Ray.  
She envied Audrey's predicament.

She wished more than anything that she'd bore Ray's child before he'd left.  
She thought back to when their relationship was new, to the baby they thought they were going to have together.  
Tears fell down her face as she collapsed in a heap on Ray's bed.  
The months of waiting, not knowing whether Ray was dead or alive, not knowing where he was, were excruciating.  
She could no longer take it.

She clasped her hands together and closed her eyes.  
"Please God," she started, in the same way as when she was a little girl begging for her parents to stop fighting. "Please, if you bring Ray back to me, I promise I'll marry him. I want to marry him more than anything. Then, once we're married we will have children. At least three…"  
Her voice trailed off into heavy sobs.  
Rolling over, she fell into a heavy but restless sleep.

* * *

Linda's pounding head cleared up when Ray, Egon, Peter and Winston casually walked through the Firehouse door the very next morning.  
Months had passed, yet they still looked the same as the day they had left, albeit somewhat dirty and tired looking.  
Into Ray's arms she leapt, awash with a rush of relief and a mixture of emotions she had never felt before.  
Through her overwhelming joy and the exhilarating buzz around the Firehouse, she wondered if her prayer had been responsible for bringing them all back.  
If somehow she had brought them back, it meant only one thing: She'd have to follow through with her promise.

Linda would finally marry Ray.


	20. Finally

Linda did marry Ray – but not until many, many years later.

* * *

See, very quickly after Ray's return, they conceived a baby together.  
"Ray, this one's showing two lines as well" said Linda, holding out a plastic pregnancy test for Ray to see.  
"Hmm, maybe we should try another? Just to be sure" Ray replied as he furrowed his brows at the two blue lines.  
Linda sighed softly and sat down on the edge of the bathtub.  
"Ray, we've already done four tests! I think it's safe to say that I'm, you know, actually pregnant this time!"  
They had spent the last hour and a half in the bathroom, trying test after test, waiting impatiently to see the results.  
Linda was certain, Ray still needed convincing.

The pregnancy was confirmed by their doctor the very next day.  
Linda and Ray both left the office with a spring in their step and beaming smiles from ear to ear.  
Finally, their dream was coming true - they would finally start a family.  
"How about Emily if it's a girl?" asked Linda softly as she leant her head against Ray's shoulder in the taxi ride home.  
"What about if it's a boy?" replied Ray with a smile, suddenly thinking about future baseball games and fishing trips.  
"I've always liked Jamie" said Linda.  
"Jamie Stantz. That has a nice ring to it" said Ray, squeezing Linda's hand with excitement.

* * *

January 1993 came and Jamie Stantz was born.  
A beautiful, chubby, dark haired boy.  
Even from the time he was born he was a spitting image for his father.  
As Ray held the sleeping boy in his arms, he felt a sense of love and pride wash over him.  
"We're finally a family" whispered Linda softly as she leant against Ray's side and looked down at the sleeping baby.  
Everything was perfect.

* * *

Jamie was a real joy.  
Bright and cheerful, honest and loyal.  
He was naturally curious and interested in all things supernatural, especially after discovering a stash of his dad's old _Spooks Illustrated_ magazines.  
He grew up alongside Egon and Audrey's daughter, Iris, the two being inseparable best friends.  
Ray and Linda had tried, unsuccessfully, to have more children, wanting more than anything to fill their house with siblings for Jamie.  
Sadly, it wasn't to be.  
Jamie was their miracle and he was showered with love and affection.

Between raising a child, ghost busting, Ray's research with Egon at Columbia University, plus running the bookshop, Linda and Ray didn't have any time to organise a wedding.  
It was discussed often though, especially as Jamie got older and began asking about it.  
Linda hadn't forgotten her promise, she still wanted to marry Ray, but the timing just never seemed to fit.

* * *

Eventually, after Jamie had moved out of home, their apartment once again filled with silence, Linda asked Ray a question.  
"Ray, will you marry me?" she asked him casually over dinner one night.  
"What?" asked Ray as he reached across the dining table for the TV remote, quickly turning down the volume so he could hear Linda's question again.  
_Surely she didn't just ask what I thought she asked_, he thought to himself.  
"Will you marry me?" she asked again, placing her knife and fork carefully down on her plate.  
Ray didn't know what to say.  
"It's probably time. It's not as if we're getting any younger and Jamie..." she began, before Ray stood up and moved to her, lifting her up and into a tight embrace.  
"I guess that's a yes?" she asked, a smile growing across her face.  
"Of course!" replied Ray, holding her close.

Finally, on New Years Eve in the year 2013, after having made Ray wait all those years, Ray and Linda finally exchanged wedding vows.


	21. Epilogue

**EPILOGUE**

The boy, Jamie, now a handsome man, led Linda down towards the bow of the boat as it rocked gently on the Hudson River.  
There was Ray, as faithful and loving as ever, waiting for her with a grin on his face.

Ray...

They held hands as they exchanged vows, Ray's hands shaking nervously in Linda's.  
Even now he felt a giddy love for her, just as strong as when they first met.  
Nothing had changed, besides becoming parents and finding the odd grey hair and wrinkle when they laughed.  
If anything, their love had only grown with each passing year.  
Their first kiss, just like their very first one all those years ago, happened at the stroke of midnight.  
Their guests cheered.

Peter was there, as was Egon and Audrey, Iris too.  
"I always knew you'd marry me in the end" whispered Ray, a gleam in his eye.  
"Oh did you just?" answered Linda playfully.  
"I finally caught you" he replied as he pulled her close and kissed her again, never wanting to let her go.


End file.
